Beginnings

Scripture: Psalm 34:18

A childhood defined by pain did not harden me. It shaped my kindness, deepened my compassion, and taught me to become the person I needed when no one showed up for me.

Scripture: Matthew 18:10

These are the memories from the years before my world changed—the first hints of innocence, chaos, and a childhood already bending under weights I didn't understand.

Scripture: Isaiah 49:15-16

There was a moment in my childhood when life stopped feeling uncertain and started feeling dangerous. This is where survival became my language.

Scripture: Proverbs 27:17

When no one protected me, I learned to protect myself. Discipline became my refuge, and strength became the language I used to survive.

Scripture: Psalm 147:3

Some losses arrive before you have the language to understand them. This was the moment I learned that life can take people without warning—and that love always carries risk.

Scripture: Psalm 27:10

At seventeen, I crossed an invisible line from childhood into survival. There was no plan, no safety net—only the cold and the quiet decision to keep going.

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 4:16-17

I didn't leave my beginnings behind. I carried them with me—into adulthood, into love, into fatherhood, into faith. This is what survived with me.

Scripture: Psalm 56:8

Somewhere along the way, my body decided that controlled pain was safer than unpredictable love. And that realization still explains more about me than I'd like to admit.

Scripture: Psalm 139:23-24

Long before I had words for fear, my body learned how to warn me. What I once called anxiety was survival doing its job too well for too long.

Scripture: Psalm 10:14

Avoiding attention wasn't about being quiet or obedient. It was about staying safe in a world where being seen often came with consequences.

Scripture: Psalm 55:4-5

Some of the most frightening moments of my childhood weren't the punishments themselves—but the waiting. The hours where my body braced for something I couldn't control.

Scripture: Romans 5:8

I didn't grow up believing love was freely given. I learned it was something you earned—and I learned that lesson by watching others receive it while I stood just outside its reach.

Scripture: Matthew 11:28

I didn't grow up believing love was spoken or shown. I believed it was earned—measured in hours worked, sacrifices made, and how much I could provide.